Chapter 50: Little Cicada, Do You Know Our Class President?

The meals in Cafeteria One were slightly more expensive than those in Cafeteria Two, specializing in distinctive noodle dishes. Many students came here specifically for the noodles.

“What kind of noodles do you want, Taoist?” someone asked.

“Which ones are good?” he replied.

“I think they’re all great! The sour soup noodles, oil-splashed noodles, and their signature BiangBiang noodles are all delicious!”

The local people of Yunqi, including Chen Shian, typically ate rice as their staple, but they enjoyed noodles now and then for a change of taste.

Every region’s culinary habits are not born out of thin air; they are the result of long-standing influences—history, geography, customs, and climate. One could say that food culture is the most direct ‘living fossil’ of regional culture.

Chen Shian loved eating and was quite skilled at it—his own cooking skills were nothing to scoff at either. Though he spent years in the mountains and had pushed his culinary creativity to the limit, the constraints of location and ingredients kept his experiences narrow.

Now that he was traveling, he was determined to taste every local delicacy he could.

There were only four noodle windows, each with a long line. Chen Shian and Wen Zhixia found themselves in the middle, moving forward with the crowd.

The wait wasn’t unpleasant; from afar, they could watch the three chefs handcraft noodles behind the windows. One chef bent over the dough, his broad palms kneading it until it squeaked, then, with the weight of a rolling pin, the fist-sized dough stretched into a thin, wavy-edged pancake. The knife rose and fell with a rhythmic thud. With nimble hands, the chef stretched the noodles thinner and thinner, finally slapping them into shape—a performance of culinary art in full swing.

Wen Zhixia craned her neck to watch, fascinated by the process as if witnessing it would somehow add flavor to the dish.

“Taoist, can you cook?” Wen Zhixia turned and asked.

“Yes, I can.”

“Really?”

“Why would I lie? If I couldn’t cook, what would I have eaten up in the mountains?”

“So what can you make?”

“I can make all the common dishes. Even if I see an unfamiliar one just once, I can make it.”

“Are they tasty?”

“I think so—they should count as tasty.”

“You talk a big game! I’ll have to try your cooking someday to see if you’re bluffing!”

“Alright.”

Seeing that the wait was long and the girl seemed a bit hot, Chen Shian casually sent a touch of coolness her way.

“How about you, can you cook?”

“I… I can boil water! And cook rice!”

He chuckled softly. Wen Zhixia looked a little embarrassed and retorted, “I’ll learn eventually! If you can do it, so can I—it’s just that I haven’t had the chance to cook for myself, that’s all~”

“Do your friends cook?”

“Ha, some of them can’t even cook rice.”

Thinking of this, Wen Zhixia felt a bit proud—at least she was a step ahead.

Chen Shian blinked. Was this a subtle sign of happiness? After all, where he grew up, it was rare to find teenagers who couldn’t cook.

At last, it was their turn.

Wen Zhixia ordered a bowl of saozi noodles, requesting an extra layer of chili. Chen Shian was taken aback—she really could handle spice.

He ordered the same noodles, with an extra meat-filled bun. The noodles cost fifteen yuan, the bun five, totaling twenty yuan—a fair price compared to outside, though it was a bit over his usual budget for lunch.

Fortunately, the meal card Uncle Lin gave him had an 800-yuan monthly allowance, so the occasional splurge was no problem.

The two of them found a seat at the back of the cafeteria, sitting face to face. Their hunger made them unceremonious; they began eating without delay.

Wen Zhixia ate slowly, especially her noodles, and with particular care. She would pick up a small bundle of noodles, place them in her spoon, then add a bit of minced meat, daylily, tofu, and wood ear mushroom—assembling a perfect spoonful before taking a bite.

“Mmm, not bad. It’s quite appetizing to have it now and then.”

“It’s not spicy for you?”

“It’s alright~”

Perhaps she was in good spirits today—after Chen Shian’s massage that morning, she’d felt energetic all day, and her appetite was excellent.

“How about dinner at Cafeteria Two? We can take turns.”

“This afternoon… you might have to eat alone.”

“Why? Are you off to destroy school property again?”

“…I’m on duty today. I have to clean after school.”

“Oh, okay. Then I won’t wait for you for dinner~”

“You’ll eat in the cafeteria by yourself?” Chen Shian was curious.

“No, when I eat by myself, I usually get takeout and eat it back in the classroom—then I can read while I eat, and take my time.”

“Not just playing on your phone?”

“…Of course not!”

Even though she could handle spice, a sheen of sweat began to bead on her nose. She rather enjoyed this sensation.

Wen Zhixia took out a tissue, tore it in half, handed one piece to Chen Shian, and wiped the sweat from her brow as she ate.

“How’s your English coming along?”

“Pretty well. I’ve finished the first volume of the seventh grade, and I’m almost done with the second.”

“…What?”

Wen Zhixia looked up, puzzled.

“When you say ‘finished,’ you mean…”

“I’ve memorized it all. The grammar notes you gave me were very helpful—I’ve got a sense of how to form words and sentences now.”

…

Wen Zhixia sat in silence for a while, convinced that Chen Shian wasn’t joking. In just over a day, he’d started from scratch and nearly memorized the entire seventh grade English content?

“…How many words have you memorized?”

“Five hundred and thirty-eight, I think.”

“Over five hundred!!”

She was stunned. Even for someone who wasn’t starting from scratch, memorizing over five hundred words in a day would be dizzying.

“How did you do it? Did you eat some kind of memory bread?”

“Memory bread? What’s that?”

“…Don’t make me explain memes and bad jokes.”

Wen Zhixia’s little cousin was in eighth grade, and she often helped her with English—she knew the learning pace well. Her cousin wasn’t a bad student, but if you asked her to memorize two hundred words in a day, she’d probably have a meltdown. A hundred was her upper limit, and even then, she’d be exhausted.

Vocabulary memorization speed grows with your word base. No matter how you looked at it, memorizing over five hundred words in a day was enough to shock her.

“Did you only memorize words?”

“I memorized the texts as well, while I was at it.”

…

Wen Zhixia buried herself in her noodles, not wanting to speak to him!

She’d thought she could finally let the young Taoist taste the bitterness of studying, yet now it seemed she was the one suffering more.

No wonder he dared to transfer straight into the second year of high school. With such an astonishing learning speed, who knew where he’d be in two years’ time?

“So, how are you doing in your other subjects? Or are you just studying English for now?”

“I’m starting with the main subjects. Chinese should be fine; I’m working on math now.”

…

Stupid Taoist! Why did he have to overturn her expectations again and again? Couldn’t he just say things all at once? She’d thought he was only working on English, but while catching up in other subjects, he was still memorizing over five hundred English words a day?

And to think she’d earnestly taught him her tricks for fast memorization yesterday, only to find herself showing off in front of a master.

Chen Shian blinked.

“But it’s all thanks to you. With your memory techniques and grammar notes, English isn’t such a headache anymore.”

At least he had a conscience.

Beneath the table, Wen Zhixia’s legs swung lightly.

“Focusing on main subjects is good. They count for more on exams; once you have a foundation, it’s easier to improve in the others. So how are you learning Chinese and math?”

“Mainly by listening in class for Chinese. For math, I’m still catching up to seventh grade—my desk mate helps me.”

“That’s good. You’re in the elite science class, so junior high math shouldn’t be a problem. Who’s your desk mate?” Wen Zhixia asked curiously.

After all, their classes were on different floors, and she hadn’t wandered over except that one time when she heard the Taoist had joined. She’d tried to sneak a peek, but he was absent that night, so she didn’t even know where he sat.

“Our class monitor.”

“The monitor?”

“Yeah, Lin Mengqiu.”

“Oh… her.”

The tone of Wen Zhixia’s reply was subtly complex. Chen Shian looked up, noticing her expression matched her tone—she kept nodding slightly, as if repeating “Oh… her” over and over in her mind.

“Zhixia, you know our class monitor?”

“Of course. She’s the top science student in our grade—everyone knows her.”

Wen Zhixia nodded, blowing on her noodles before taking another small bite.

“It sounds like you know her better than that, don’t you?”

…

Wen Zhixia took another bite, then finally nodded.

“We used to be desk mates.”